I'm With You
by IlovetowriteSMP
Summary: Milo shows Lulu his love for her, though words still fail him. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

NOTE-

_This fic is a little unkind to Dillon in order to facilitate the Milo and Lulu romance. I do feel bad about that but the story had to be told this way to work._

_I still like Dillon and the idea of Dilu but I am enchanted by Milo's sweetness too._

_I have written eleven chapters of this. I am not sure if I will write more beyond the eleven chapters, that could be the end or just a new turning point for Milo and Lulu._

_Even though the first half of the first chapter is Dilu this is a Milo and Lulu romance story all the way. Though it is very angst filled._

_It is not a follow up to Road Trip, so Milo and Lulu have never kissed as the story starts._

**Chapter One**

**MARCH 2007**

It didn't really start off pretty. Lulu loving Dillon, that is. She thought he was IT. It for her, it forever. And the Spencer in her said that for _it _you need to fight. So Lulu got down and dirty, sunk to her lowest, and tried to get that boy's heart.

Lulu felt she had gotten close. But laying here now, naked in his bed, on a crisp March morning she wanted to be more than _almost_ the one he wanted to spend his life with.

Dillon woke up, smiling. "You're still here?"

"I should have gone?" she asked, unsure.

"No, no. It's just the family can't know..." Dillon's voice trailed off.

She searched his eyes but, as usual, couldn't decipher what he was truly feeling.

They couldn't blame alcohol on why they fell into bed together last night. The moment before they kissed they were just hanging out in his room talking about her mother. Tears were in her eyes as she confessed her fears about losing her own mind one day, falling into a black hole where no one could ever reach her again.

Lulu had said, "I don't want to end up alone. I've been so damn lonely all my life already."

And then his lips met hers. Maybe it was pity or friendship but in a few seconds it became an unquenchable heat that overtook them both. The idea that he still wanted her, after all that happened with their baby that would never be born, it made her lose her breath, made her feel worthy for once.

But now Lulu couldn't help wondering if anything had changed for Dillon. Or if last night was just a vacation from his real life, from his real love, from Georgie.

She sat up in bed now, pulling the sheet over herself. "Was this a one time thing?"

Dillon grinned, then ran a hand up and under the sheet. "I wouldn't mind it happening again."

Her heart filled with hope. She couldn't help it. For so long, he had been the one she wanted to call her own.

Dillon started to pull her back down and into his embrace.

"Will you end things with Georgie?"

His eyes changed, going from lust to confusion. "I..um...you know.."

She pushed away as she waited for a better explanation.

He cleared his throat. "I hadn't thought about that yet."

Lulu nodded.

For a moment she simply thought about every moment she knew Dillon. In her mind she played the scenes like a movie, in black and white, the best kind of flick in Dillon's opinion.

She asked him, "Remember when we stood on that bridge out on Fuller Lane? That night last summer? When we still weren't sure about what to do about...do you remember that?"

"Sure. You wondered away from that party and I followed you."

Lulu cupped his face, loving that she could caress him, could look in his beautiful eyes. "Meet me there tonight at midnight. After you tell Georgie about us.."

He shot her a look that said, _Don't do this._

Lulu swallowed, wanting to take her words back but knowing she needed this, " If you don't tell Georgie today and end it with her for good then we can't be... anything, Dillon. Ever again. I don't do second string for anyone."

She climbed out of bed and left him there, speechless.

XXXXXXX

**That afternoon she worked **her shift at Kelly's.

Around six pm, her face broke into a huge grin as Milo walked in. Every night he took his dinner there, always having the same thing, a bacon burger with cheese fries and coffee that Lulu would refill at least three times.

"Hey, stranger," she said joking "I haven't seen you in like..." she glanced at the clock on the wall "twenty three hours."

"Hello, Lulu." his words were formal, a little stiff.

But his face was as lit up as hers. And the tender way he said her name took her breath away.

He sat at the counter and she poured his drink.

Ever since Christmastime, when she was stuck at Greystone for a day as a near prisoner, Lulu and Milo had started to become friends. When he ate at Kelly's she would gab at him about her life.

He didn't say much, just smiled and tried to be there for her. Every once in a while he would say something that made the hurt she was feeling disappear, or made the confusion she had suddenly become clear. Lulu wasn't sure how he did this. All she knew was she had come to rely on him.

"Something's different about you..." Milo said, marveling at the way she glowed even more than usual.

He couldn't take his eyes off her.

She leaned across the counter and whispered, "It happened. Me and Dillon. Or it could be happening is how I should put it, I guess. Can you believe it, Milo?"

There was a time Lulu thought Milo might ask her out. And she had tried to encourage him. But it never happened and they fell into a friendship.

One day Lulu spilled the whole story about her love for Dillon and now Milo was her sounding board for her feelings.

Most times she vowed to forget about the Quatermaine heir, but other times she just wanted Dillon to chose her. Maybe it was only to prove a point, that he would, that she was worth it. But Lulu desperately ached for Dillon to not be able to walk away from her so easily.

Milo blinked rapidly, trying in school his expression to not show how devastated he felt.

All he managed to choke out was, "Oh, yeah?

Lulu scooted around the counter and sat next to him.

"You would be proud of me. I told Dillon that the only way we can be together is if he ends things with Georgie by midnight. He's going to meet me at Fuller's bridge when it's done."

"You're sure this is what you want?"

Lulu studied him.

There was that look in his eye again, that one that made her think maybe Milo wanted to be with her. But Lulu put that off to wishful thinking on her part. If he wanted her he surely would had said so by now, she believed.

"I know Dillon and me were a disaster the first time around but..."

A shrill female voice interrupted Lulu, "You sure as hell were! But _you_ would be with anyone. You're not the kind of girl a guy sticks with, not for more than one night."

They turned to see Maxie smirking at them.

"Vanilla latte." Maxie snapped her fingers. "Hop Hop, little Lulu."

Lulu glared at her but didn't' say a word.

Mike had warned both her and Georgie about making scenes at the diner. The last time Maxie snarked at her Lulu had shoved the blonde's face into a fresh apple pie and then Maxie threw a milkshake at Lulu.

When Lulu was in the kitchen making the latte Milo said to Maxie, "You're a first class bitch. You know that, right?"

Maxie's mouth dropped. "How dare you! Well I never..."

Milo raised his hand in a stopping motion. "Don't even finish that sentence. There isn't any low you can convince me you haven't sunk to. Leave Lulu alone. Or ..."

"Or?" Maxie challenged. "You know damn well who my father is. Don't mess with me!"

Milo leaned close to her and whispered, "Your daddy hasn't solved a mob murder in fifteen years. Don't you mess with me. Or Lulu."

Maxie paled. Then turned on her heel and stormed out.

Milo smiled, silently thinking Sonny for teaching him, by example, how to play the bad ass when needed.

Only with Lulu could he never find the right words to say what he felt.

She returned with a tray containing his dinner and the latte. "Where'd she go? Upstairs to stalk my brother?"

"No, Maxie decided that she wasn't thirsty after all. I don't think she'll be back in here for a while."

Lulu smiled, making his heart flip flop, "What did you do?"

"Me? What would I do?"

"Milo," she drug his name out. God, he loved when she did that. "You chased her off, didn't you? My protector. What would I ever do without a buddy like you?"

Buddy. The word was like cold water being thrown on him.

He concentrated on eating his food while Lulu worked. A while later, while she as clearing a table, Georgie and Dillon walked in, laughing and joking with each other.

Lulu watched them, for signs something had changed, but they looked as happy as ever.

Her heart sunk. She turned and her eyes connected with Milo. Silently, just through his look, he kept her steady, told her not to give up hope, to keep having faith in herself.

And because he was there, she didn't cry or cause a scene, instead she walked calmly back to the counter and started to wipe it down.

Dillon would tell Georgie soon. Last night had to mean something to him, the way she bared her soul, her body, her heart to him... she couldn't have done all that and still not be the one Dillon wanted.

"Some more coffee please?" Milo asked.

She thought he just loved the stuff, since he could drink so much of it at one time, but the truth was it was a good way to prolong his stay at the restaurant.

"For you, Milo, anything."

The sweet way she said the words, so simple yet they seemed to hold a deeper layer of meaning, made his heart expand, made him love her a little more today than yesterday.

And tomorrow, Milo knew, he would only love her more than today.

_Coming up in next chapter- Lulu waits on the bridge and her future is changed._


	2. Chapter 2

(_I'm Standing on a bridge  
I'm waiting in the dark  
I thought that you'd be here_

_by now _

_  
There's nothing but the rain  
No footsteps on the ground  
I'm listening but there's_

_no sound_

Isn't anyone trying to find me? 

_Won't somebody come take me home?) _

_( Avril Lavigne_)

18 minutes past midnight. 19. Twenty. Twenty- one.

Lulu stood, gripping the iron railing, as rain pelted her. He would come. He had to. If only to tell her that he couldn't leave Georgie... Dillon wouldn't let her wait here like this all night just for no one to show up.

She could sit in her car. Nikolas had bought her a Saturn as a Christmas present. She could play her Rob Thomas CD and get lost in his sexy voice for a while, be warm and feel safe. But Lulu didn't want that.

If he wasn't going to show she wanted to stand here in the downpour and just ache. Maybe not even go back to the mansion tonight. Or ever.

Maybe change her whole damn life to something that made sense because this, loving this guy who kept not loving her back, sure as hell wasn't working.

Twenty-five after midnight. Twenty-six.

_Please, Dillon. Please God. Please, make him show. Please, Dillon, don't let me down again._

Twenty- seven minutes after midnight.

Her head fell forward, the tears started to fall. She was breaking, breaking in two right there on a bridge that no one ever drove over in the middle of the night. No one would see her, no one would know, no one would care.

She could shatter unnoticed.

Suddenly Lulu was flooded in light as a car approached the bridge. It stopped and a man got out. At first she couldn't tell who he was, because the headlights blinded her.

(_It's a damn cold night  
trying to figure out this life _

_  
Won't you take me by the hand?  
Take me somewhere new_

_  
I don't know who you are  
but I..._

_I'm with you ) ( Avril Lavigne_)

He flipped off the lights, closed the car door, and moved toward her.

"Lulu," the way he said her name made it sound sensual. No one else ever said her name like that. It was as if in his eyes she was a beautiful painting, something precious and unique.

"He didn't show," her words were tear choked. She repeated, "He didn't show, Milo."

For a minute, Milo didn't say anything. He was about to push past his fear and pull her into a hug when Lulu moved the few steps between them and buried her face into his cashmere coat. He lifted his arms to gently hold her.

Her sobs wracked her body. The pain was more about her feelings about herself than about Dillon.

Why wasn't she ever enough to keep someone by her side? She wondered if there was something fundamentally flawed in her that others could see that made her not worth loving like crazy.

That made her not worth going to extremes for.

She pushed away from Milo, anger boiling up in her. "I should have figured this would happen. I don't get the guy. I don't get love. That isn't me!"

(_Cause nothings going right _

_  
and everything is a mess _

_  
and no one likes to be alone _) ( _Avril Lavigne_)

She ranted at him. "No one is ever going to do anything big and bold to show their love for me. Show up on a bridge at midnight? I must have been nuts to think Dillon would do that. For me? Me? Ha!"

He whispered, "Please, don't."

"Don't say it? It's the truth! I get to be the friend. The good time. The leftover. The second choice. But not the one who gets the flowers, the ring, the banner hanging up in the middle of town square that tells everyone in Port Charles someone loves pathetic rejected Lulu Spencer. That will never be me."

Her face showed all her heartache as she cried, " I'm the daughter of Luke and Laura. Their love story is a legend around here! I'll never be the one people talk about years from now because someone did something crazy and romantic for me. You came here tonight because you knew that. You knew Dillon wasn't going to choose me. You knew..." she spun away, crying again.

Every bit of pain she felt, Milo took in as his own.

He searched his mind for a way to make her feel better, for something to say that would make this right. But with Lulu, he lost his words, he lost his ability to concentrate, all he could do was feel when he was near her.

(_Oh, why is everything so confusing_?

_  
Maybe I'm just out of my mind  
yeah, yeah, yeah_

It's a damn cold night  
trying to figure out this life.

_  
Won't you take me by the hand?  
Take me somewhere new _

_  
I don't know who you are  
but I..._

_I'm with you ) ( Avril Lavigne_) 

He moved close to her, slowly reaching out his hand and finally brushing against hers.

Lulu moved her hand into his, still looking away.

The rain stopped.

Thirty five minutes after midnight. Thirty six.

"Let me give you a ride home," Milo offered.

She let go of his hand and swiped at her tears. Lulu turned to face him. "I have my car. Back over there."

She nodded the opposite way from the direction he drove in from.

Lulu continued, "Thank you for coming out here. It..." she looked down. "means...Milo, no one else in my life would be out here for me. My dad isn't in town enough to know what's going on in my life. My brother's would be hunting down Dillon. Lucky would kick his ass and Nikolas would probably threaten him in proper English. I could just imagine him warning Dillon that the Cassadines and Spencers are no one to trifle with. If any of them even knew about this stupid ultimatum I gave. But you... you went out of your way to check on me. That's... something, Milo. Really. You..."

Embarrassed she let her words drift off. No need, she figured, to tell Milo that if he had asked her out then she knew, deep in her soul, she wouldn't have ever looked twice at Dillon again.

But having someone as good, as sweet, as handsome, as perfect as Milo Giambetti love her was not the kind of thing that happened to Lulu Spencer, at least, she wouldn't think so.

"I..." Milo was tongue tied. "I... it was nothing."

"If only..." Lulu said softly.

"What?"

"If only Dillon was like you." Lulu looked out, over the railing of the bridge, into the darkness. "Damn it. I really thought he would come through for me this time. A big grand gesture. Like in one of those movies he cares so much about. So much more than he does me... damn."

Forty-two minutes after midnight.

Lulu looked up at the moon, it's beauty mocked her.

Now that the storm was over, the night was turning lovelier by the moment. While Milo stood there, she felt stable enough. But Lulu knew later, when she was all alone, there would be more tears, as she coped with being not good enough to love.

Milo said, "He was never the one for you."

Lulu looked at him, cracked a sad smile, and joked. "Duh."

Milo smiled.

"I'm through with Dillon for good."

Milo nodded.

"Hell with him." Lulu said, her words trying to sound angry but revealing a world of pain.

She sniffled.

"It will be okay, Lulu. Tomorrow will be better."

"Will I be someone different in the morning? Someone worthy?"

"You are now."

"Okay, Milo. If you say so." Her tone made it clear she didn't believe him. "You should get home. Am I keeping you from someone? Who's waiting in your bed tonight? You never tell me about your love life and all I do is whine about mine. You should of told me to shut up a long time ago."

"I wouldn't do that to a friend."

"No, you wouldn't." she said softly "Do you know you are my best friend? Don't freak. I know it is pathetic that after three months I am so reliant on you that I don't know what I would do if I lost you. But it's true."

She briefly touched the lapel on his coat. "At least I know you won't let me down, buddy."

He forced a smile. "I'll walk you to your car."

She smiled. "Tell me her name first."

"Who?"

"The girl who you are in love with."

He froze.

"Ever the gentleman," Lulu said when he didn't answer.

"Come on, My," she said shortening his name "don't keep secrets."

"Not tonight. I'll tell you some other time."

"I'll hold you to that."

They looked at each other for a long moment. Then she took his hand again and they headed for her car.

_(Take me by the hand.  
Take me somewhere new._

_  
I don't know who you are  
but I... _

_I'm with you  
I'm with you  
I'm with you... ) ( Avril Lavigne_)

_Coming up in the next chapter- Lulu gets a surprise that changes her life.  
_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Lulu was sleeping in a four poster bed when her cell phone rang the next morning.

She had come to Spoon island at 1 am, told Alfred to not bother waking Nikolas, and curled up under the covers to cry her eyes out.

"Yeah?" Lulu said into the phone.

"Where are you?" Carly asked, her voice filled with excitement.

Still tired and cranky, her eyes actually hurt from crying, Lulu ignored the question.

"Listen, Carly, I can't do breakfast this morning, if that is why you called. Something happened last night..."

"I would say so!" Carly exclaimed "I went by the Quatermaines to get you but your room was empty. Where are you? I'll pick you up."

"For what?"

"You have to see this with your own eyesWhere are you?!_"_

"Wyndermere."

"Get on the launch and I'll meet you on the docks. And hurry, Lou!"

Carly hung up. Lulu stared at the phone, confused. Then she sighed and crawled out of bed.

_Another drama to deal with_. _Lovely, _she thought.

XXXXXXXXXX

**Carly drug Lulu **to the limo and Max started driving.

"What is the big secret?" Lulu asked

Carly couldn't stop smiling. But she refused to spill.

"You'll see," Carly told her.

When Max pulled over Lulu looked out the window, all she saw was a huge overgrown field.

Lulu sighed. "This is the middle of nowhere."

Carly and Max got out of the car. Lulu shook her head and then followed.

She still didn't see anything interesting. Max gave her a weary look. Carly was bubbling with joy.

"What?" asked Lulu "What am I missing?"

Carly pointed skyward.

Lulu turned and saw the water tower, tall and white. Across the middle of it, in green letters three feet tall, read

**MILO LOVES LULU.**

Everything changed in that moment, she changed at her core. She started to believe she was worth loving.

Lulu stared at the words, biting her lip.

The tears came to her eyes- happy, amazed tears that healed the broken places in her.

_Milo loves me,_ she thought, _He loves me. Oh my god, he loves me._

"I saw it when I was driving to work," Carly said "Why didn't you tell me you two hooked up?"

"We..." Lulu turned and faced them again. "Does this mean what I think it means? Or is Milo just trying to cheer me up?"

Carly cried happily, "Girl, he loves you. It's right there for the whole town to see."

Lulu looked at Max, silently asking him to confirm it.

Max nodded, once, his eyes studying her closely.

"Really?" Lulu whispered, her voice breaking.

"Are you telling me you and Milo are not together?" Carly asked "And he did this. Wow. If you don't want to be with him... ouch. That would be humiliating in the tenth degree."

"Where is he?" Lulu asked Max

Max told her, "At the police station. Mac arrested him for vandalism."

"Take me there. Now. I want to see him." Lulu jogged the few steps toward the limo. "Come on, Max!"

"She is a bossy little thing," Max grumbled to Carly.

Carly smiled. "Of course she is. She's my cousin."

Max grinned, sharing a look with Carly.

Lulu was already in the limo. Through the open door she barked, "Stop lusting after Carly and come on Max!"

"Wha? I wasn't." protested Max

"Sure you weren't. Okay, whatever you say. Now, please, please, please," Lulu begged "DRIVE!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

**At the police station**, Mac told them " Milo's bail is 500 dollars. His court date is in a month. I can tell you that he will probably get community service and have to pay restitution to the city to have the water tower repainted. You can go downstairs and see the clerk to pay the bail."

"Can I speak to Milo?" Lulu asked

"After he is released," Mac said then walked away.

Lulu did not want to have this conversation with Milo in front of anyone else. She needed to get close to him, to look right into his eyes and see if that look he sometimes gave her was real, the look that gave her hope he might really want her.

She had to make sure this best thing that ever happened to her was not an act of pity or charity.

Lulu turned to Max, "Can you ask him to meet me at Kelly's? Upstairs in Lucky's room."

"I'll tell him," Max started "but what are you ... Lulu, are you planning to let him down easy? Because I need to prepare him if you are. He..."

Carly butted in. "She's not doing that!" she looked at Lulu "You aren't doing that, are you? Milo is such a sweetheart. Oh, that would be so sad, Lulu."

Lulu said, "Please, Max, trust me. Okay?"

Max studied her for a moment, trying to decipher where her heart lay. Then he nodded.

"Be good to him, Lulu." Max told her

**NOTE- this chapter was inspired by the sweet and funny Joe Diffie song, John Deere Green.**

_...In the midnight hour,  
he climbed upon the water tower_

_  
stood on the rail and_

_painted a _

_ten foot heart._

_In John Deere Green,  
on a hot summer night,  
he wrote Billy Bob loves Charlene  
in letters three foot high._

_  
And the whole town said  
the boy should have used red._

_  
But it looked good to Charlene_

_  
in John Deere green..._

_  
Now more than once_

_the town has_

_discovered   
that painting over it_

_ain't no use._

_  
There ain't no paint that'll cover it.  
The heart still shows through..._

_and the whole town said_

_the fool_

_should have used red_

_But it looked good to Charlene_

_in John Deere Green_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Lulu paced her brother's room.

She didn't know how to do this. No guy had ever asked her on a date, ever sent her a Valentine, ever took her to a dance. And unless she had Dillon pegged wrong, no guy had ever loved her.

Until now, until Milo.

She looked in the mirror that hung on the wall, trying to fix her hair. She sighed and spun away.

Forget her hair, she needed words. Words that would be the right ones to show her heart to Milo and get him to show his to her.

She swayed on her feet, feeling like she might pass out. And that is when she heard the knock on the door.

Her mouth was dry when she said, "Yeah, um.. come in."

Milo stepped into the room, looking pale.

"Are you okay? Did they treat you bad at the police station?"

"No. I mean yes. I'm fine, Lulu. How are you?"

It took a moment but then she smiled widely, finally relaxing.

This was Milo, her Milo. She could do this.

Lulu stepped closer. "Tell me it's the truth. What you wrote on that water tower."

His head titled slightly. His eyes stayed on hers. His mouth opened and then closed without saying a word.

She started to worry, maybe it was just a gesture of friendship. Friends could love each other, right?

But she wanted this man to love her as more than a friend. Was it too much to hope for? Couldn't someone like him choose her? Had he?

"Milo?" her voice begged him to answer her

But instead of saying a word he raised his hand and stroked her cheek. Lulu smiled again.

He smiled back at her, then leaned his head forward until it touched hers. "I'm not good with words. Not with you."

Softly she implored him, "Then show me. If you love me, Milo, show me."

The seconds felt like lifetimes, each one lasted a hundred years, but slowly, it seemed to her, his mouth was moving toward hers.

Before their lips could meet, before Lulu was even really sure Milo was going to kiss her, the door flew open.

"Hey!" Dillon objected.

Lulu gaped at him. "What the hell?"

Milo and Lulu moved apart.

Dillon said, "Mike told me you were up here. I saw the water tower. Well, Alice saw it and told everyone at breakfast. Then I went and saw it myself."

"Get out!" Lulu ordered him. "It's ten hours past midnight, Dillon. You're ten hours too late."

Milo stepped close to Dillon and started to push him out of the room. His voice was a lethal whisper when he hissed at the college kid, "You made her cry, do you know that?"

Dillon peeked around Milo, caught Lulu's eye and said "I was there. On the bridge at midnight. You weren't."

"Liar."

"I was on Elm Street Bridge, Lulu, I swear. We must have missed each other somehow."

"I said Fuller's Bridge."

Milo turned to look at Lulu to see if this changed anything.

Dillon said, "We need to talk alone and figure this out. This guy has nothing to do with us."

Lulu felt like her head was spinning. She clutched at the desk.

Then Dillon used his trump card, "I broke up with Georgie."

Shocked she asked, "You did?"

Milo said, "I'll leave you two alone." He turned and hurried away.

(_If I should stay, I would only be in_

_your way. _

_So I'll go, but I know,_

_I'll think of you_

_every step of the way. _

_And I _

_will always love you._

_I will always love you. _

_You my darling, you, ohhh) ( Whitney Houston)_

Lulu took off in a run after him, pushing Dillon aside. She caught him outside Kelly's. "Wait! Wait! Please, Milo. Talk to me." 

He stopped but didn't turn around.

"If Dillon was on the right bridge then I would have never met up with you last night," Milo said "and then I wouldn't have written what I did. So..."

"It was just to cheer me up?"

He turned around, shrugged. "What can I say? I like your smile."

(_And I wish for you joy_

_And happiness._

_But above all this, I wish you love._

_And I will always love you._

_I will always love you._

_I will always love you._

_I will always love you._

_I_

_will always love you._

_You, darling, I love you._

_I'll always, _

_I'll always love you) ( Whitney Houston_)

"Milo..." she drug out his name, and in that one word she was begging him to just tell her how he felt.

Was it love? Was it friendship? Did he feel sorry for her? Didn't that water tower mean what she thought it meant?

"Go talk to Dillon."

Milo turned and walked away without another word.

Lulu stood there for five minutes, long past when she could see him anymore, wondering what it would have felt like it if he kissed her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Lulu walked back **into the diner feeling lost and confused. Too much had happened in too short of a time to digest.

She slept with Dillon, he let her down.

Milo told the whole town, in green letters three feet tall, that he loved her. Then he walked away.

Lulu didn't want to deal with Dillon but there he was at the counter, waiting for her.

"I ordered breakfast for you," Dillon said "Sit. Eat. Lets work this out."

Lulu sat down but didn't pick up her fork to eat the scrambled eggs or sausage. Her stomach rolled at the mere sight of it.

Dillon saw the miserable expression on her face and said, "You have me scared to death last night when you didn't come home. I couldn't sleep all night."

"Yeah? But you didn't go looking for me, did you?"

"Would I have found you with Milo? Is that why he pulled that spray paint stunt?"

"Stunt?"

"Cry for attention. Call it whatever you want. Listen I don't want to talk about him. You should know better, Lulu really, then to associate with his type."

"What type is that, Dillon?"

He met her eyes. "Don't. You know what I mean. Sorry I can't be a bad boy gangsta but I do care about you. And two nights ago you cared about me too."

"When did you break up with Georgie?"

He concentrated on his coffee, adding sugar, then taking a sip.

"You did break up with her, right?"

"Last night," Dillon answered, not looking at her.

"The exact time?"

"What? Why would you care?"

"Should I ask her?"

"Georgie is out of town. Left this morning on Spring Break with Brooklyn."

"And when will she be back?"

"Two weeks." Dillon told her "But if you can't take my word for it then what do we really have between us, Lulu? Are we even friends?"

Lulu didn't answer right away. But then he gave her a sad look, and in his eyes she saw an unborn baby. "Yeah, we're friends."

"And what about more?" he placed his hand over hers.

She stared at his hand for a long moment. "Maybe you were at the Elm Street Bridge. But I know you weren't at Fuller's Bridge. And when you weren't, things changed. For me. In me."

Dillon rubbed her hand. "I gave up Georgie for you." He repeated the words slowly, "For you. Because I want to be with you. I want you, Lulu. Only you."

She had waited so long to hear those words. And now they just weren't enough.

She stood up. "I'll be staying with my brother. Don't call me. I waited months for you, not knowing if it would lead to anything. Get ready to take your turn doing the same."

Lulu walked out of Kelly's, feeling cold inside. She made her way to the parking lot, near the launch, where she parked her Saturn the night before.

Then drove straight to the water tower. Sitting on the hood of her car, she stared up at the words.

**MILO LOVES LULU**

_God, if you give me this one thing, just this one thing, and make those words be true... I will never ask you for anything else again_, Lulu prayed silently.

_Let him love me._

_Coming up in the next chapter- Lulu takes action to get some answers._


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

For the next two days Milo did not come into Kelly's to eat.

Lulu worked and went to school and waited for him to call or come around. She drove out to the water tower every night and stared at the words, trying to soak them in before the white paint wiped them out.

Finally she could take no more of the not knowing and she went to Greystone.

Max was the only one in the foyer.

"Is he around?" she asked

"Milo is working somewhere else for a while."

"Where?"

"Somewhere.."

"Else," she finished for him. "Come on, we're friends right? Help a girl out."

Max said, "He needs some time away from you. His words, not mine."

Lulu glanced away, hurt. "And does what I want matter?"

Max remained silent.

Lulu thrust her shoulders back and gave him a determined look. "I'm finding that brother of yours. Today."

Max started to object, "Let it go..."

"Today!" Lulu cried before heading back out the door.

XXXXXXXX

Lulu went straight to her car and called Carly for advice. Then she headed to see Lucky at the police station.

Her brother greeted her with, "Carly just called. And no, I will not put out an APB on Milo."

Lulu pouted at him. "Where's Cruz?"

"No, he won't either."

"But..."

"I don't think Milo is right for you."

"Oh no, please. No big brother lectures. I came here for help. And only you can give it to me. Can we talk someone alone?"

Lucky led her into the interrogation room.

Lulu asked , "You know those cameras that are up all around town? The ones that catch speeders and muggers?"

"What about them?"

"I need to see the one from Elm Street Bridge.  
Saturday. Midnight."

"Those are classified as police use only."

"I have to see it. If Dillon isn't on that tape, he lied to me."

Lying to his little sister was a mortal sin to Lucky.

"Give me a day to get it," Lucky said "But only on one condition."

"Name it."

"You keep me up to date on whose ass I am supposed to kick- Milo or Dillon."

Lulu smiled. "That is some way for a cop to talk."

"I'm a brother first."

XXXXXXXX

After going to the warehouse and harassing Sonny, Jason and a bunch of the guys that worked for them, Lulu found out where Milo lived.

She finally got it out of Jason by saying, "You know me. I'm a Spencer. Stubborn. Like another blonde you know. And I got all day, Morgan. All day."

She had smiled. "You want me to stay here and keep bugging you, I can do that. It would give us a chance to get to know each other even better."

Jason gave her his typical fearless look. Sonny smirked from behind his desk.

Lulu asked Jason, "Want to trade secrets? I heard a great one about you and Carly from her...something about one night during a snowstorm..."

Jason gave her the address, jotting it quickly on a scrap of paper and shoving it into her hand.

"Nice doing business with you," Lulu told him.

As she left Sonny had asked, "What night?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She was walking down the stairs on the docks when she spotted Milo and Leticia hugging.

Lulu's hand covered her mouth as she stepped into the shadows and watched.

She couldn't hear what they were saying, but Leticia pulled back slightly and looked into his eyes. Then spoke softly to him.

They were obviously very close. Lulu pictured Leticia as the one who waited in Milo's bed at night.

She turned and ran from the docks.

Lulu went straight to the Metro Court and took the elevator up to the restaurant. She looked around and spotted Jax.

Running over to him, she cried miserably, "Where's Carly? I need her now!"

Jax got nervous. He had enough trouble calming down fully grown emotionally distraught women, let alone a teenage one.

"He... she..." Lulu stumbled over her words "they.. on the docks..." she started to cry

"It's going to be fine," Jax said, awkwardly patting her shoulder.

"How would you know?" Lulu snapped at him. She wailed loudly, " I need Carly!"

Customers turned to stare at them.

"She's in her office. Follow me."

Once Lulu was in the office she plopped down in a seat on the other side of Carly's desk. Jax backed out of the room, mouthing "Good luck," to Carly.

Lulu spit out, "Is Milo sleeping with Leticia?"

"My Leticia? The woman who takes care of my kids, Leticia?"

"Is there some other Leticia?"

"No, he's not," Carly said

"Does he hate me?" Lulu asked, then without waiting for an answer she started sobbing again. "Why won't he see me?"

She buried her face in her hands.

Carly came around the desk and crouched next to her, hugging her. "Shhh. Okay. What happened at Kelly's that day after he got released from jail?"

Lulu told her everything.

Carly said, "I would bet good money that Milo is afraid you won't choose him so he isn't making himself an option. He's just trying to not let his heart get stomped on. I fell for a guy who did the same thing."

Carly shrugged and added, "It's a way to go. But I'd never pull that one. I say get in there and fight for who you love."

"Exactly!"

Carly stood up, walked around the desk, and then sat on the edge of it. "So? Do you know, Lulu?"

Lulu looked at her, wiping her eyes.

Carly continued, "Who do you love? Milo or Dillon?"

Lulu looked up at her. "I want to be with Milo. If he wants me..."

XXXXXXXXXXX

Milo stepped back from Leticia.

"I think you're right. That's how I should handle it. Thanks for the advice," he said

"Anytime. You hang in there, okay?" Leticia smiled at him.

He nodded. Milo went back to work and then a few hours later headed home.

When he opened the door to his apartment he found Lulu sitting on his leather couch.

He froze, their eyes met. Milo took a step back. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Lulu stood up. "Please, don't leave."

Milo stepped inside, looking at the lock on his door.

"You pic this?" he asked

Lulu smiled proudly and told him, "Spencer skill taught at birth."

Milo walked straight to the kitchen area and took two bottles of water out of the fridge, got ice and glasses then concentrated on fixing drinks.

"Were you ever going to come and see me?" Lulu asked, hating that she sounded whiny.

Looking down he said, "I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was disappear on you.."

"Milo," she drug out his name.

He looked up.

She told him, "The water tower is amazing. Thank you."

"I wanted to do something big... you said you always wanted that."

"And you gave it to me, Milo. No matter what I will never forget that."

She moved closer to him. His hands shook as he passed her the glass of water. She set it back down on the counter.

Lulu tried to cut the tension, "I love this apartment. Very bachelor chic."

He smiled, but it was strained.

"You know you could invite me over for pizza some time." Lulu said sweetly "Any toppings just no..."

"Anchovies, olives or onions," Milo filled in softly.

They locked eyes and she said, "You were paying attention."

"Yeah, always." Milo said

He walked around the breakfast bar and into the living room but didn't sit down. "Pizza night sounds fun. Things don't have to be weird between us now because of...right? We're cool, still?"

Lulu nodded, though he wouldn't look at her and didn't see it.

She hated feeling like this, like they were not anywhere near as connected as they were on the bridge.

Her heart ached for him to kiss her, to make what she imagined real.

"Hanging out will have to wait though," Milo said "I'm going out of town for a month or so, to visit relatives on the Jersey shore."

He kept his back to her.

"Oh." Her eyes drifted close.

How typical. She would lose him before she got him.

_Almost Doesn't Count could be my theme song_, Lulu thought to herself.

(_Almost made you love me  
Almost made you cry_

_  
Almost made you happy, baby.  
Didn't I?_

_Didn't I?_

You almost had me thinking  
you were turned around.

_  
But everyone knows  
almost doesn't count) ( Brandy_)

**Somehow she had **done the whole scene at Kelly's wrong. She didn't blame Dillon walking in or Milo walking out.

She blamed herself. Milo came there for her. All she had to do was grab him and tell him he was the one in her heart.

_Why didn't I? _she berated herself now.

Lulu wasn't the type to give up so easily though. She took a deep breath, and jumped back in.

"When you come home" she paused summoning all her nerve "would you like to go to the movies with me?"

Milo finally turned to look at her. In his eyes, the way his mouth was set, in how his jaw was clenched, she saw he was withdrawing from her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Milo studied **Lulu, as at a loss for words as ever.

_Is she just feeling sorry for me? _he wondered _Is her heart still Dillon's as much as ever?_

_(I can't keep on loving you,  
one foot outside the door._

_  
I hear a funny hesitation  
of a heart that's never really sure._

_  
Can't keep on trying  
if you're looking for more  
than all that I could give you,  
than what you came here for) ( Brandy_)

**Milo **swallowed. He mumbled, "A movie? Sure. Sometime."

When he was writing the words on the water tower he wasn't thinking of anything but that he hoped it would make Lulu happy. She could take it as she wished, as friendship or maybe, he had dared to hope, maybe as more.

But now he saw how foolish that was.

She had been sleeping with Dillon just the night before, she all but said that at the diner. He recalled her huge smile as she told him,

_It happened. Me and Dillon. _

Of course, Lulu loved Dillon, wanted Dillon, would choose Dillon over him, Milo figured.

Seeing her hurt so bad now.

Why hadn't he thought that would happen before he went and told the whole damn town about his love for her?

Milo was pissed at himself that he hadn't thought ahead to the fact that he could lose Lulu over his grand gesture. But, if she liked it, if it made her smile, then it was worth it to him.

Milo would do anything to spare her pain. Even watch her date a rich boy, even lose her forever.

Lulu gave him a weak smile. "Oh. Okay. Well, I guess, I should go."

She stepped closer instead of towards the door. She added, "Thank you, truly. Again."

"No big deal."

"I hope that isn't true, Milo." She gave him a wave, letting her hand linger in the air a moment too long.

The gesture made his heart clench, made him want to take that hand and kiss it.

Lulu added, "Have a safe trip, buddy."

"I will."

"Well, Kelly's will be waiting when you get back."

_But will you? _asked Milo _Or will you be back in his bed?_

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

**When in doubt**, do what Carly would.

Lulu liked to live by those words. Her cousin was bold and brave. And Lulu wanted to be that too. To grab life and make it give her what she wanted.

But, standing across the room from Milo now, she couldn't get up the courage to run into his arms and press her lips to his. To see if, underneath it all, MILO LOVES LULU was the truth, or just a kind thing to do from the sweetest man she ever would know.

"You be good," Milo said

_Be very careful_, he added silently, _because if anything happens to you... you die and I am done for. Simple as that.  
_

"I'll try." Lulu told him "Are you going to Jersey alone?"

"Yeah. Max has to work. Our mom is having surgery and someone needs to be there with her so I'm going."

Milo didn't mention that Sonny told him '_You are of no use to me as long as you are distracted. You're going to get yourself or someone else killed. Get with Lulu or get over her. But get this figured out. Or don't come back to work_.'

Lulu asked, "Leticia have to work too?"

"Leticia? Why would she go with me?"

"You aren't?"

"What?" His expression was blank, and she realized he must not be sleeping with Leticia, after all.

"Nothing," Lulu said. She shifted her weight from foot to foot. "You know, you can call me while you are gone. I'll be out at Wyndermere. And you have my cell number, right?"

Milo nodded.

"Okay, then," Lulu said in a small voice.

He wished she would smile. He loved that smile. It would be nice to see it one more time before he left town.

But this break might do them good. If she wanted Dillon she could go to him without worrying about hurting Milo, he figured.

_She might want you_! a voice yelled at him in his head. _Kiss her_!

Milo recognized it as his brother. As usual, he ignored him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Lulu sighed, **not wanting to go.

Tears pricked her eyes. _Damn all these tears_! she cursed silently.

Why was she always watching the guys she loved walk away?

Milo had been the one constant in the last three months. He made her think that for years to come he would be sitting on the other side of the counter at Kelly's, being there for her.

Then for a few hours after she saw the water tower, he made her think she was loved.

It was not fair. But for her, nothing, yes absolutely nothing, ever was.

(_Maybe you'll be sorry._

_  
Maybe you'll be cold._

_  
Maybe you'll come running _

_back, baby,  
from the cruel creul world._

_  
Almost convinced me,  
you were gonna stick around._

_But everybody knows  
almost doesn't count._

So maybe I'll be here.

_  
Maybe I'll see ya around._

_  
That's the way it goes._

_  
Almost doesn't count) ( Brandy_)

"Good bye," he said

"Yeah, I guess it is," she said, her voice aching with sadness, then spun on her heel and left.

_Coming up- Nothing is over yet for these two. But it will take some work for Lulu to find out how deep Milo's feelings run. _


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

**A day later**, Lulu went to pack up her room at the Quatermaine mansion.

As much as she had _wanted_ to see Dillon that night he didn't show up at Fuller's bridge, was as much as she _did not want _to see him today.

She had no answer for his questions about them.

How could she explain that now all she thought about was a guy who was, up to that night, only her best friend. Now to her Milo felt like he could be her whole world.

Or maybe she was just imagining, or wishing for, things that would never be.

She had a tendency to do things like that.

**Her bags were nearly** completely packed when Dillon stepped into her room.

"Hey, what is this about, Lou?" He motioned toward the suitcases.

"I moved in with Nikolas. He didn't invite me but I'm family and it's not like he can throw his baby sister out."

"You have a home here," Dillon told her.

"I need space."

"We can finally be together and now you want space? What is the deal? Am I not interesting to you, Lulu, now that the challenge of getting me is over?"

She asked, "Wouldn't that be ironic?"

He met her eyes, not amused.

"Dillon, once something is done, it's done. It becomes a part of us." Lulu thought of her road trip with Jason in December. He has said similar words to her about him and Carly. It was his mantra, it was what made his life what it was. And now it was also becoming Lulu's.

She continued, "You not showing up Saturday night changed everything. Like the baby did. Like my lie about Georgie cheating on you did. It's like..." She grasped for an analogy "a kaleidoscope. One thing shifts and it changes the whole picture."

"Did Milo change our picture?" Dillon placed his hand on her cheek and forced her to hold his gaze.

Lulu whispered softly, "Yeah, he did."

Dillon took a step back, breaking contact.

After a moment she asked, "Can you help me get this luggage out to my car?"

Dillon picked it up and they went outside.

By the car he said, "Don't waste the time we could have, Lulu. And please don't get killed hanging out with gangsters."

She got in the Saturn and rolled down the window, "I'm not concerned with dying right now, Dillon. I have to live first. It'd be nice to finally do a little bit of that instead of just waiting for my real life to start, don't you think?"

She threw the car in reverse and peeled out without letting him answer her question.

XXXXXXXXXX

**Lulu sat in a **room at the Port Charles Police Department in front of a TV. Lucky slipped a tape in and fast forwarded until the time stamp read midnight.

"This is Elm Street bridge?" Lulu asked

"Yeah, that's it."

The tape ran on FF until it was two am. Dillon never came on screen.

Lulu whispered, "He lied."

Lucky said, "He's dead."

"Can you do me one more favor?"

"Not kill him?"

"Get me the tape for in front of Kelly's and for the docks at the same time period. I don' t suppose you have any cameras near the Quatermaine mansion?"

"Edward would have us in court so fast," Lucky said

Lulu said, "Then the docks and Kelly's will have to do."

"What is it you suspect Dillon was doing that night?"

"It's not what, it's who." Lulu told him "That was the night before Georgie left for Spring Break and he was supposed to be breaking up with her so he could be with me."

Her brother asked, "Where does the spray painter fit into this story?"

"Milo," she smiled

"Yeah, I know his name. It's on a rap sheet around here."

"He's my best friend, Lucky."

"Oh, man. When did that happen? I thought Jenny Parker was your best friend?"

"In fifth grade!"

"Look her up again. She is a better choice."

"Can I see the tapes?" Lulu asked

"Stay here while I go hunt them down."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

**There were a variety **of people on the tape of the docks. But none were Dillon.

The tape of Kelly's showed people going in and out until closing. Then around 11:25 pm Georgie and Dillon came on the screen and sat at one of the tables.

They held hands and talked for a half an hour. Then Georgie stood up, smiling, and pulled Dillon to his feet. They kissed, it stretched on for minutes, with their hands roaming.

Then they walked away, still holding hands. The times stamp read

12 midnight.

Lucky hit the stop button and asked, "Should I go visit our step brother?"

"I can deal with it, Lucky."

But seeing Dillon was the last thing she wanted to do now.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Milo walked on the beach, staring at the Atlantic Ocean.

The writing on the water tower, he could see now, was done in a moment of madness.

He had wanted, so desperately, to do something that would qualify as legendary for Lulu that he didn't let his fear of his crush being revealed stop him, for once.

_Well, you made the whole town take notice_, Milo told himself, _And made a jackass out of yourself at the same time. Good job_.

Everyone would soon see he was chasing after a girl who was in love with another guy.

Milo dreaded the stares he would get but that was nothing compared to if this messed up his friendship with Lulu, the fear of that kept him up nights.

He bent down and picked up a shell. Every one that he collected he was keeping in a glass covered wooden box to give to Lulu. One day.

If he had the nerve.

(_She's got a way about her  
I don't know what it is_

_  
But I know that I can't live without her_

_  
She's got a way of pleasing  
I don't know what it is_

_  
But there doesn't have to be a reason_

_anyway_

_  
She's got a smile that heals me  
I don't know why it is_

_  
But I have to laugh when she reveals me_

_  
She's got a way of talking  
I don't know why it is_

_  
But it lifts me up when we are walking anywhere ) ( Billy Joe_l) 

He dialed her cell phone and listened to her voice on the message, "This is me. You know how this works and if not you are a moron."

He chuckled every time he heard it.

"Hey, hope you are doing well. Just calling to say I made it to Jersey safely. Good night and... sweet dreams, Lulu."

Milo couldn't help wondering if she might be thinking of him too or if Dillon was keeping her occupied.

_God, I miss her_, he thought.

(_She's got a light around her  
And everywhere she goes_

_  
A million dreams of love surround her_

_everywhere _

She comes to me when I'm feeling down  
inspires me without a sound  
She touches me and I get turned around 

_She's got a smile that heals me  
I don't know why it is_

_  
But I have to laugh when she reveals me_

_  
She's got a way about her  
I don't know what it is,_

_  
But I know that I can't live without her_

_anyway) ( Billy Joel_)

_Coming up - Milo calls home._


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

For the next week Lulu worked, went to school and avoided Dillon at all costs. Wisely he did not go into Kelly's. But on Saturday night he showed up at Wyndermere.

Nikolas, Spencer, Emily and Lulu were in the living room when Alfred brought him in.

"Oh no," Nikolas stood up. "You are not welcome here."

Emily butted in, "Nikolas."

He looked at his fiancee. Their eyes warred.

Lulu passed Spencer to her brother and said, "It's fine. Dillon and I can speak in my room."

XXXXXXXXX

**When they were alone**, Lulu said "I will ask you one more time. Did you break up with Georgie?"

Dillon saw at the numb look in her eyes and knew he was caught. "I wanted to. I will."

Lulu shook her head and turned away.

"I will," he promised "when she comes home. I need time, Lou."

She refused cry. She was out of tears now. Dry.

Softly, her words final, she told him. "You had time."

"Give me more. I wanted to be on that bridge but

I couldn't face you knowing that I hadn't told Georgie."

(_How can I go home with nothing to say?_

_  
I know you're going to look at me that way._

_  
And say, "What did you do out there?  
And what did you decide?  
You said you needed time_

_  
And you had time. You had time.") ( Ani Difranco)_

Lulu faced him, "I've thought long and hard about this and I know what I have to do now."

Dillon trembled. He did care so much about her, he was only lost as to how to balance those feelings against what he had with Georgie.

Lulu went on, "We shared a baby. Nothing can erase that. So... I will...I am going to try and forgive you. The night we were together before the bridge and every moment between me and you since then DID NOT HAPPEN. Now go."

Dillon touched her arm, "Lu..."

"Go." Her word was soft, but final.

_(I guess everything is timing._

_  
I guess everything's been said._

_  
So I am coming home with an empty head..._

_You said you needed time. You had time.) ( Ani Difranco)_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Milo called every night. After a few days Lulu realized he usually called between ten and eleven pm so she made sure she was waiting and answered the phone.

Their conversations were easy, just like he was sitting at the counter at Kelly's. Though he never, never mentioned three things: the water tower, his love for her, or Dillon.

On Sunday night their call went like this:

"I hear a TV playing. What are you watching?" he asked

"Cartoons."

"Which one?"

"Pinky and the Brain. It's on DVD. I think it's very appropriate considering where I am staying, don't you?"

"Gee, what are we going to do tonight?" Milo asked, mimicking Pinky

Lulu answered as the Brain, "What we do every night, try and take over the world!"

They chuckled.

Lulu said, "Just like Nikolas' crazy bitch grandmother and her husband once tried to do. I told Nikolas this show reminded me of the Cassadines but he just looked at me like I grew an extra head."

"I wouldn't think your brother does much cartoon watching. You will have to educate Spencer in that hobby."

"You can help, if you want."

Silence. Like every time she talked about sharing a future with him.

"Anyway, Milo, how is your mom?"

"Her hip is recovering well. Thanks for asking."

"What kind of flowers does she like? I'll send some if you give me the address."

"You don't have to."

"I would like to."

Silence.

"Well let me know if you think of anything I can do, Milo. I... want to be a good friend to you."

"That's sweet, Lulu."

She sighed. Sweet, yeah just what she was hoping to be thought of as- a sweet friend. The kiss of death.

_I have to ask Carly how I can be a hot babe, _Lulu thought, _Because playing the good girl next door is so not my style. Let Georgie win that crown. _

Still Lulu was afraid Milo thought of her that way.

Carly would never be considered that, Lulu figured.

Not with her take no prisoners attitude.

Leticia might but she had the added bonus of her exotic looks and _I love babies and animals_ demeanor. Guys ate that up with a spoon.

Lulu needed to break out of her boring, safe shell. Be hell on wheels like when she used to be when she hung out with Diego.

How had she lost her edge?

Lulu sighed again.

She could feel, in their nightly phone conversations, that Milo was holding back on her. She didn't dare bring up the water tower until he came home, she wanted to look in his eyes and see the truth when she asked, _Do you love me?_

Lulu said now_, "_Do you like sweet, Milo?"

"Hmm?" his voice was nervous.

"Max goes for the wild type, like Carly, right? Is that a trait the Giambetti brothers share?"

"Ummm. Uh..."

She pressed on softly, "Do you think I am wild? Or could be? Because I could be, you know. I have been."

"I believe you."

"Would you like to see that? Me being wild?"

Silence.

Lulu waited, not letting him get out of answering.

Long moments later he said, in a tender but sad voice, "I like you however you are. Sweet dreams, Lulu."

Then she heard the dial tone.

_Coming up - Milo gets bad news._

Note- I decided that Milo and Lulu can not get together too quickly in this story. Since she slept with Dillon she needed sometime to move past him and really decide if Milo is the one for her, not just rebound onto him since he is there. If Lulu gets with Milo, it will be for him. Anyway, there are three more chapters written so far so we are closing in on the scene where they decide if they will be friends or more.

Bye,

Sara


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Lulu's plan was to lay low until Milo came back to town. For about three weeks it worked, she went to school and work and talked to him on the phone at night.

But then Dillon had a fight with Georgie, who was now back from Spring Break, and he came looking for Lulu at Kelly's.

He wanted to see his old friend, to see someone who lit up at the sight of him, to see someone who loved him.

Dillon walked up to her as she cleared a table and before she could stop him, spun her around and kissed her.

His lips were gentle, the kiss short but at that exact moment Max was looking through the window into the diner.

Max walked away, shaking his head in disgust.

Lulu pushed Dillon in the chest. "Not cool."

"Come on, Lou, forgive me already. Georgie and I are through."

Lulu walked to the counter, "I heard that one before! Good joke. Too bad I am the punch line."

"For real. She broke up with me."

"Sorry to hear that."

Dillon studied her. "That actually sounded sincere."

"I don't want you hurting. I just can't be the one to make you feel better. Now I have work to do. Talk to you later, Dillon."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**THAT NIGHT**, Lulu waited for Milo to call. He never did. The next night she called him. He didn't answer. The next day the same thing happened.

Lulu headed to Greystone and found Max in the foyer.

"What is going on with Milo? Is he okay? Did something happen with your mom?"

Max looked over her head, not meeting her eyes. "I saw you."

"I am going to need more information than that. Saw me where? When?"

"At Kelly's. With Dillon. Kissing."

Lulu's heart sank. She shook her head, wanting to deny what she knew was the truth, "You didn't?"

Max looked at her.

"You told Milo!" she ranted "Why would you do that to me? I thought you liked me, Max."

"I do. But I love my brother. Stop dragging him into this thing you have with Quatermaine. Milo isn't strong enough to resist you even if that means he leaves himself open to get hurt over and over by you."

"I have to see him. Give me your mom's address."

"No way."

Lulu's eyes got teary. "But..."

"He can't just be your friend. Okay? He's in ...just please leave him alone now."

She spun away from Max, feeling lost. Then she stormed into the living room.

Surprise registered on Sonny's face at the sight of her.

"Trouble again, Lulu? Anything I can help you with?"

"Paper and a pen."

Sonny opened his desk drawer and gave it to her.

She scribbled a note and then walked back into the foyer.

"Will you send this to Milo? Or see that he gets it as soon as he is in Port Charles again?" she asked Max. "Listen, okay, I know you think I am bad news. But let Milo make the choice if he wants to see me. Will you do that?"

Max read the note and then nodded.

Lulu sighed, "Is he coming home soon? The month is up."

Max didn't answer.

Lulu bit her lip and stifled the urge to shake him. To yell at him that she was in love with his brother and didn't that mean anything to anyone!

Instead she whispered, "Just make sure he gets the note." and left.

_All I can do is pray Milo will still want me now_, Lulu thought.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

**TWO DAYS LATER**, Milo Giambetti came back to Port Charles.

Everything in the city looked gray to him. Even though it was April now, and all the flowers were blooming.

The water tower still read MILO LOVES LULU. And he still did, desperately.

He loved this girl who was almost a woman, this amazingly fragile and strong soul, he loved her in a way he doubted would ever end. And he hadn't even kissed her yet.

He had made a decision. He would respect the fact Lulu loved Dillon first. She had told him too many times how desperate she was for Dillon to want her, how that was her biggest wish in life and how him not wanting her broke her heart. Now it looked like Dillon was ready to step up.

So Milo would have to step aside, he figured. There was no way he would make Lulu unhappy by ruining her chance to enjoy what she wanted most in life... Dillon Quatermaine's love.

Milo only hoped he could still cope as her friend now that she knew he loved her, now that everyone knew.

At his apartment Max waited, sitting on the couch, drinking beer.

"No work today?" Milo asked his brother, as he dropped his suitcase by the door.

"Took a day off."

"Skipping seeing Carly. You must be sick. Feverish?"

"I'm fine. It's not everyday my brother comes home."

"From Jersey, not the war. What's going on?" Milo asked as he leaned against the counter in the breakfast bar.

Max met his eyes and Milo knew it was about Lulu.

Milo lost his breath. He nearly yelled at his brother, "Is she hurt? How bad? Talk, man!"

Max let out a breath. "Nothing like that. Sit down."

Milo stalked toward him. "Tell me. What else could it be? You said she kissed Dillon. What? Are they married now?"

"Lulu gave me this to give to you."

Max passed him the note. Then he stood and said, " I won't tell you what to do. Hell, I don't know what the right thing would be. Whatever happens, brother, I am on your side."

Max walked into his room, leaving Milo to read the note.

_The night you come home please meet me at midnight at the water tower. I will be there every night from now till then waiting for you._

_I do miss you so, _

_Lulu _

XXXXXXXXXXXX

**AT 11:55 pm **that night Lulu drove her Saturn to a rode near the water tower and parked behind her brother's car.

She walked over and climbed in. "You don't have to keep coming out here every night, Lucky."

"Yeah, like I am leaving you here alone at midnight. Not going to happen."

"We'll give it an hour, I guess. If Milo isn't here by then he isn't coming. He's probably still at his mom's house in New Jersey."

Lucky paused for a moment and then said, "Actually, I saw him today on the docks."

Lulu sucked in a breath. _Milo is home!_

She looked at her brother and asked softly, "Do you think he will come?"

Lucky said, "Maybe it would be better if he didn't."

Lulu frowned. "Better if no one loves me?"

Lucky asked softly, "Are you sure he is who you want?"

Without hesitation, she answered, "He makes me feel special. How can that be wrong?"

**Coming up- Milo decides if he will meet Lulu at midnight.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

**Milo didn't know **if he was doing the right thing. If he didn't go to the water tower, Lulu would probably never forgive him. If he did go, he would only open himself up to more hurt.

It was so easy to care about Lulu. Just one smile and he had been captivated by her, he was hers for life in that second. But now he feared it was a one sided thing. 

He worried Lulu had only asked him to meet her at the water tower to let him down easy, right in the spot where he declared his love for her.

_Two minutes after midnight. Three. Four. Five minutes after twelve._

Milo glanced at the clock. He prayed he was doing the right thing.

(_It's a damn cold night  
trying to figure out this life_

_  
Won't you take me by the hand?  
Take me somewhere new_

_  
I don't know who you arebut I, _

_I'm with you_

_I'm with you) ( Avril Lavigne_)

**Lulu watched the **minutes clock by on the dashboard clock.

Six minutes past midnight.

_Where is he? she thought_

She glanced at her brother, wishing she was small again and he could make it all alright by giving her a kiss on the head, like he used to when she fell off her bike.

"All better," Lucky would say back then.

And like magic, it was.

_Milo, _silently she begged him to come here tonight like she had asked and give her just one more chance to love him back, the right way. Lulu really thought he would come through for her, not leave her waiting like Dillon did that night over a month ago.

(_Cause nothing's going right_

_and everything's a mess_

_  
and no one likes to be alone!_

_Isn't anyone trying to find me?  
Won't somebody come take me home_?) ( Avril Lavigne)

"**Look," Lucky **said pointing at the windshield "lights."

A car had just pulled onto the street. It parked, facing them. Milo got out.

Lulu's heart soared at the sight of him.

"Wish me luck," she said to her brother.

"Should I wait?"

"Milo is here. He'll look out for me now."

"Lulu."

"He will. Trust him like I do."

Lucky kissed her head. "He doesn't deserve you. But I hope you get what you want anyway."

Lulu smiled and jumped out of the car.

She found Milo standing in the field beneath the water tower. A full moon shone over them.

"Hi there," she said softly.

Milo took a second more to look up at the words **MILO LOVES LULU**, then he turned toward her.

"Hello."

Lulu realized in that moment she hadn't planned what to say if he did show up. She had figured it would be like the movies, just the fact that they were both here would say it all.

She pointed up. "Is that true?"

Milo's eyes darted from side to side, as if he was unsure of what to say, the truth or a lie.

She moved closer to him, looked up at his face, touched his chest. And waited.

His hand moved slowly to lightly grip her other hand. His touch made her relax. Like she was stepping into the house she grew up in.

Still she needed to hear his heart revealed in words. To know he wasn't just feeling sorry for poor discarded Lulu.

"Milo," she breathed, begging.

He said, "I don't think I should have written that on the water tower."

She froze. "Oh."

"I should have just talked to you. I should have... done everything different. I.." his words faltered.

(_Oh why is everything so confusing_

_  
maybe I'm just out of my mind_

_  
yeah yeah yeah_...) ( Avril Lavigne) 

"Talk to me now. I'm right here." she said, her words gentle and full of hope.

He remained silent.

"You came all this way," Lulu said "You are my best friend. Nothing changes that. So you can tell me if you don't want more. I can handle it. Just please talk to me, Milo. I feel like I am going crazy, imagining you might... please tell me..."

"You're my best friend too," he said.

She nodded.

"I want you to be happy," he added

"That makes two of us."

Milo let out a breath and said words he meant, but still hated to have to say, "So if that means you date Dillon, then know I will be here for support."

Lulu took a step back. "That's nice of you."

(_It's a damn cold night  
trying to figure out this life_

_  
Won't you take me by the hand?  
Take me somewhere new) _( Avril Lavigne)

**Milo turned **away. He looked up again.

She could walk way now, get in her car and drive into the night, just stay his friend.

But Lulu had that fighting instinct and she could not let it end like that. If there was the slightest chance he wanted more she had to stay and try again.

"Milo loves Lulu," she said softly "I love how that sounds. Do you know I get on my knees each night and say my prayers? I never told anyone else that I still do that. But I do. And the first thing I thank God for now... is you, Milo."

His head fell forward.

Her voice was small when she told him, "I don't want to be with Dillon, if that makes any difference to you."

Milo turned around again. "Don't say that because you think it would be easier to be with me. That I am safe."

"Safe? Yeah, okay, you make me feel safe. And scared to death all at the same time. I wanted you to..." her words her barely audible "_want me _ever since that day you went shopping for me when I was stuck at Sonny's house. I just didn't know if you did. I didn't think you would..."

When he didn't say anything to that, her words got louder.

Lulu yelled, "And I still don't! You have to make this clear for me so I can stop thinking of you _like that _if this thing between us isn't that. I want you in my life no matter what. Just please..."

He closed the gap between them. "It's true. The water tower. I do."

"Good," tears slid from her eyes.

Slowly, moving only a inch then a inch more, he bent to kiss her and Lulu finally started to see what forever might look like for her. It was in the shape of a man who loved her: strong and steady, sweet and sensual. Just starting out but already something she simply could not live without.

Lulu smiled and kissed Milo back then whispered, "God, I am glad you came home today."

"So am I, Lulu. I'll come home to you from now on, anytime you let me."

That was the best promise she had ever heard. And Lulu Spencer planned to hold Milo Giambetti to it. 

_I'm with you  
I'm with you  
I'm with you...) ( _Avril Lavigne)

**Coming up- Lulu and Milo start their journey as a couple.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

Standing there, in each other's arms, minutes after their first kisses Lulu said to Milo "Lets climb the water tower."

"Why?"

"I want to touch MILO LOVES LULU and prove to myself it is really there, know its real."

He whispered, "Believe me, its real."

Lulu smiled, as giddy as a child at Christmas, slipped her hand in his and drug him the few steps to the ladder that hugged the tower.

She went up first.

Once she was on top Milo, who was a few stairs behind, called out "Stay back from the edge."

He couldn't stand the thought of anything happening to his girl. When he was next to her again he kept his hand on her back, making sure she was secure.

Lulu's hand rested on the L in love, she was touching love for the first time ever, and in that moment her life started to click into place.

"Tell me this feeling will never change," she begged softly, her voice filled with awe, "I want to always be as happy as I am right now."

"All I know is..." Milo refused to let his words fall short this time "I will always feel just like I do right now about you. You can count on that, Lulu."

Underneath the full moon, she slid close to him. "You make me feel so lucky," she chuckled "Do you know how crazy that is? I've never been lucky!"

She was glowing, radiating light and love. Milo just had to touch her.

He was shaking when he slid his hands up her back, slowly, looking in her eyes, then finally moved his fingers to her hair, titling her head back, his lips found hers again.

(_I'm gonna muster every ounce of confidence I have  
and cannon ball into the water_

_  
I'm gonna muster every ounce of confidence I have  
For you I will  
For you I will_) ( Teddy Geiger)

**LATER**, Milo walked Lulu to her car. "I wish I could drive you home," he said, hating that he would have to leave go of her hand.

"I'm a Spencer. I can handle driving myself home and much, much more."

Milo told her, "You don't have to. Not alone. Not anymore."

She couldn't stop smiling around him. "Okay."

He opened her car door and she climbed in. "Good night, Milo."

"Sweet dreams, Lulu."

She loved when he said that, it was if he cared about every minute of her day, even when she was asleep. Like he wanted the best for her at all times.

As she drove off she glanced up and saw him in the rearview mirror, getting smaller and smaller.

He couldn't walk away until her car disappeared from sight. And even then he stood there, just thinking about her. Milo vowed to be a better man, to say how he felt more, to love her in a way that made her always feel treasured.

(_Forgive me if I stutter  
from all of the clutter in my head_

_  
Cuz I could fall asleep in those eyes  
like a water bed..._

_I'm gonna muster every ounce of confidence I have  
And cannon ball into the water_

_  
I'm gonna muster every ounce of confidence I have  
For you I will_

_  
I'm gonna muster every ounce of confidence I have  
For you I will  
For you I will  
For you I willFor you  
_  
_If I could dim the lights in the mall  
And create a mood_

_I would_

_  
Shout out your name so it echoes in every room  
I would..._

_I'm gonna muster every ounce of confidence I have  
For you I will  
For you I will  
For you I will  
For you I will_) ( Teddy Geiger)

**TWO MONTHS went **by, there were movie dates and walks in the park, there were nights spent watching baseball ( which Milo loved, Lulu didn't. But she did love sitting next to him on the couch with his arm around her shoulder), days spent just driving in his car, talking and exploring neighboring towns. Life seemed fresh to both of them, bright now in all the places where it used to be dark.

Things weren't perfect. He didn't always have words for what he felt, no matter how hard he tried. And she didn't always believe things would never change. But, for now, they were both happier together than they had ever been in the past.

Milo still came into Kelly's everyday for dinner. He always brought her a flower.

Finally one night, smiling, she told him. "Isn't this costing you a fortune? I don't need one everyday."

Milo gave her the white rose, each time it was a different flower. "Do they make you smile?"

"You know they do." And right now she was smiling back at him from behind the counter.

"Then you get your flower."

"The money.." she protested

"You're worth it."

She got him a coke, remembering the first day after the night at the water tower. He came in for dinner and she brought him coffee.

He had looked at it for a long moment. She remembered it now:

"_What?" Lulu had asked, perplexed. _

_She started to panic that he was trying to find the words to say everything the night before was a dream, or a mistake, or not going to lead to anything._

"_I don't like this stuff," Milo said, motioning at the cup of coffee. "Technically."_

"_Technically? Did I make it wrong today? You've been drinking it by the gallons for months."_

_Milo blushed._

"_Milo," she drug out his name in the way he loved. She did this when she wanted answers._

_He shrugged. "I couldn't just sit here and not drink coffee...could I?"_

"_That was just to be near me?" The giddy feeling was back._

"_Afraid so," Milo said, studying her. _

"_You don't like coffee, at all?"_

"_Hate the stuff."_

_She busted up laughing, and soon he joined in. _

They had learned more about each other, a little at a time, with every day that passed. But there was so far to go still.

It was June, the start of summer, and for the first time she had no doubt she would be spending it with someone who loved her.

Lulu said now, "They painted over the water tower yesterday."

"I know," Milo said " I guess they were waiting for me to pay my fine before they did it."

Her words were soft and sweet when she told him, "I can still see it though."

He smiled at her, "Me too. The words bleed through. I guess they will charge me more and try again."

"I don't think it will work. I don't think anything will take away MILO LOVES LULU, do you?" she asked

Milo reached for her hand, and it was as if no one else was in Kelly's or even in the world, he said "No nothing ever could."

THE END


End file.
